


T&G Matchmaking Services

by Duchess_Of_Dumpsters



Series: Multi-Wings AU [3]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Bdubs is the only romantically competent one... somehow, Cleo is a very talented pirate, Gen, Grian & Tango are terrible at helping, M/M, Multi-Wings AU, Permanent Death AU, SFW shipping, Scar has terrible timing, attack hippie, not so sfw injuries, simple problems require convoluted solutions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duchess_Of_Dumpsters/pseuds/Duchess_Of_Dumpsters
Summary: An unknown rift has formed between Doc and Ren, Grian having caught wind of this has decided to see if he can help them reconcile. He can’t manage this ‘parent trap/it takes two’ level shenanigans on his own however, so who better to enlist, other than the aid of the very hermit Doc stuck in Area 77’s basement like a week ago?
Relationships: Grian/Mumbo, Rendog/Doc, Tango/Impulse
Series: Multi-Wings AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565188
Comments: 16
Kudos: 119





	T&G Matchmaking Services

This was one of those little moments in life that made Tango wish he could just pause the world around him and bask in the joy of it as long as he desired. It was a little sliver of perfect, a brief oasis of peace, a small and humble thing in the grand scale of life but no less important than anything else. Especially if he’d learned anything from recent events, there was nowhere he’d rather be in that moment, what made it so precious, was to be right at Impulse’s side. His heroic boyfriend was draped over his lap not unlike a cat, having all but melted there when Tango had started rubbing his back and even though Impulse had dozed off a while ago Tango found no reason to stop gliding his fingers across smooth skin and scale, tracing absent lines along and around the base of Impulse’s wings, his back, his shoulders. With a contented sigh Impulse seemed to sink all the more against Tango under the gentle touch, such a small thing but there was no missing the way it increased the warm, fuzzy feeling in Tango’s chest. Basking in the happy-feel-goods of the moment Tango leaned back against the tree he and Impulse had parked themselves under after quite a bit of hard work. His eyes drifted over the hilltop to the ocean beyond and he had to keep from laughing when he spotted Scar and Cleo racing boats. In all honesty he was glad to see Scar having retired from government agent work and return to being a pirate. It just brought greater emphasis that things had returned to normal again and he didn’t need to be looking over his shoulder, worried that someone would steal him away from his beloved again. He felt like he could finally just relax, more importantly, he could get Impulse to relax, for someone who’d spent a week living hippie life he’d never seen his lover so stressed and shaken. Of course, nearly dying could have that effect he supposed.

Their precious moment of peace was shattered a beat later by a flurry of wings, stirring the wind, shaking leaves and grass up in a little dance as none other than Grian landed before them, his wings sweeping back and folding against his shoulders after the skillful landing. He stood with a big grin and Tango  _ knew _ the prankster had something in mind.

“Just the hermits I was hoping to find!” Grian said, placing his hands on his hips triumphantly. Impulse grunted, having been stirred from his nap, he pushed himself up to stretch a little, one wing staying tucked against his back so he could turn and hug Tango, nuzzling his face against Tango’s neck. The redstoner would be lying if he said he didn’t relish the feeling. Still, with someone clearly coming for a chat he kept control of himself, just wrapping an arm, then a wing around Impulse to hold him close while he glanced to Grian.

“Oh yeah? What’s brewing this time?” Tango asked with a mischievous grin to match Grian’s own. Grian clapped his hands together and came into the shade of the tree to kneel next to them.

“I’ve had a brilliant idea. Let’s team up and open a matchmaking service.” Grian said as if it was the most brilliant plan on the planet. Tango just laughed, that was the  _ last _ thing he would have expected the builder to come up with.

“What brought about that idea?” Impulse asked drowsily, his breath ghosting across Tango’s neck, leaving the mischievous redstoner to struggle a bit at keeping his brain focused on the conversation.

“Okay, so you remember how Ren mentioned that him and Doc seemed to have just... drifted apart basically? Well, I’ve been keeping an eye on them for the past couple of days to see if they’d work things out like we suggested and… nope. Both of them seem pretty lonely and miserable though, even though Doc is a bit harder to read, there’s a slump to his shoulders, a bit more grumpiness whenever I talk to him. So. I say we fix it.” Grian explained.

“Dude you’ve been stalking them?” Tango laughed, somehow not surprised or concerned.

“I’ve been on surveillance detail and Doc deserves it.” Grian defended firmly.

“So how exactly do you think we can help them? Should we really be meddling?” Impulse questioned.

“I have… a few plans.” He grinned. “I just need a bit of help with the redstone, I’m learning but I also can’t be in multiple places at once.”

“Sounds like fun, count me in.” Tango laughed.

“I… think I’ll sit this one out guys.” Impulse said softly, sounding a bit uneasy and Tango shifted a little to hug Impulse with both arms.

“That’s fine, you’re still recovering, why don’t you go home and get some rest?”

“I mean I could probably work on some-” Impulse started but Tango put a finger to his lips to stop him.

“ _ Rest. _ I’m serious, you’ve done enough today.” He insisted, honestly concerned for Impulse’s health, the other redstoner had been through quite a lot recently. Impulse seemed to concede to the point, gently taking Tango’s hand and pressing it against his chest.

“I’m fine, but I won’t push it. You just try not to go start another war.” Impulse said, tone calm but serious all at once.

“Not making any promises but you better be on the winning team this time if we do.” Tango laughed, knowing Impulse had a fair point. After all, his and Grian’s shenanigans at the stock exchange had led Doc to declare war.

“We’re trying to fix a problem, not get back at anyone this time. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” Grian assured Impulse as the redstoner pulled himself to his feet to let Tango get up as well.

“Uh-huh, and when has pestering Doc ever worked out for either of you?” Impulse asked pointedly, much more awake now.

“Oh, come on it always works out fun… in the uh… end.” Grian said but his smile slipped a little under Impulse’s scrutiny, after all, the back and forth with Grian and Doc had nearly gotten him killed. After staring the prankster down a moment longer, Impulse shook his head and sighed.

“It’s fine, just be careful.” Impulse said, sounding almost his more cheerful self before turning to give Tango that same warning look.

“I’m not going to get duped again, don’t worry.” Tango assured Impulse with his best, big goofy grin. Impulse seemed to relax at that and stepped closer, eliminating the distance between them in that one graceful motion. Without any real warning he leaned in closer still and ghosted a kiss across Tango’s lips, just barely touching him. Before Tango could react at all Impulse was back out of reach. “Oh that’s not fair!”

Impulse laughed, stepping further away until he was clear of the tree and with a teasing wink he raised his wings up. Tango wanted to protest, especially now but he himself had already agreed to help Grian so he simply watched Impulse take to the sky. Sighing softly to himself Tango turned to face Grian again, the builder who had just quietly watched their little exchange for the most part.

“Ready?” Grian asked, standing and dusting the grass from his knees.

“About as ready as I can be, considering I don’t know what the plan is.” Tango pointed out in a light hearted jab.

“Okay, good point. First thing's first we need to start at the beginning. We need to find someone who’s been pretty close to either Doc or Ren. Someone who would know how their first date went.” Grian explained

“Oh! I get it, try and rekindle the magic eh? Alright. I know just the Hermit, let’s go.”

“Perfect!” Grian laughed and it was obvious he knew he’d made the right choice for partner in crime, or rather, not crime this time, He supposed as they both took to the sky. The wind tousled his hair as his wings carried him high above the little hill, Grian not far behind him, easily matching his skill. Having risen high enough he angled out, wings out wide to glyde almost lazily out over the market district. Much like he’d predicted the place was tightly packed with shops at this point, having had to expand a bit to make room. The market district wasn’t his exact destination, just a convenient place to find a portal as they were going to need to traverse the nether if they were going to track down who he had in mind. With natural ease Tango angled his wings forward to slow his glide then down again to float to the ground like a loose leaf.

He touched down on the carpet outside of i-Trade smoothly, having not even thought about taking the path to the portal here, it was practically habit. He heard Grian touch down behind him as he headed towards the portal, as well as a light chuckle from the other hermit.

“It’s like you two have a radar for each other.” Grian said at the curious glance Tango gave him and only mildly puzzled Tango glanced back at the building. Sure enough he spotted Impulse inside the enchanted bookstore.

“So much for resting.” Tango sighed, glad that Impulse was at least doing something easy. He backed into the portal, watching his oblivious beloved. As purple washed the scene away Tango considered whether or not it was stalkerish to watch someone from a distance. That thought was shrugged away as he stepped out onto the glass floor of the nether hub beside Grian, who looked to him expectantly.

“Up.” Was all Tango offered before taking to the stuffy air of the nether, one strong wingbeat bringing him up to the second level without much thought. He turned and watched Grian fly in a wide circle while arching upwards. Grian’s wings flapped in a smooth, graceful rhythm that carried him confidently up to the second level to land beside Tango and together they turned down the tunnel to the New Hermitvill portal.

\---

The path leading to New New Hermitvill was simple yet effective in setting a mood, the hills rising to either side and natural trees acting something like a palate cleanser. Tango enjoyed the walk as the charming architecture came into view around the bend. They had both gotten the message that Keralis and Bdubs didn’t want anyone flying into the new village that they were putting together. It was a bit of an odd request but it was easy enough to honor. Though Tango had to lift his wings a little so they didn’t drag the ground, which made him wish he’d thought to grab a horse on the way here, that was allowed after all. Ahead was a bridge that looked like it had been there forever, despite likely not existing while Tango had been sitting under Area 77, but to the left of the road before that bridge was a building only half finished. As the two approached the sound of blocks being placed and someone humming could be heard.

“Hey, Bdubs!” Tango called, pausing on the road just under the little tower. The sounds from within the tower stopped and not a moment later the little trap door window popped open and Bdubs poked his head, then the top half of his body through the window so he could get a look at them.

“Oh hey guys! What are you doing all the way out here?” The talented builder inquired, though he seemed quite cheerful to have guests, regardless of their purpose.

“To see you of course!” Tango said, throwing his arms out wide to add a flourish to his point.

“Really? Oh that’s grand! I’ll be right down.” Bdubs said cheerfully and tried to turn, then tried to push himself backwards and Tango chuckled, noticing the hermit was stuck. Bdubs’ wings were pinned to his sides by the small space of the window and likely the reason he’d gotten snagged.

“Need a hand up there, bud?” Tango asked, trying really hard to cover his laughter but a small giggle did escape.

“Oh no, no I got this, you just watch and see.” Bdubs said with a half frantic wave of his hands before taking hold of the windowsill and heaving himself forwards. Ripping several feathers free in the process Bdubs tumbled from the window and for a moment Tango worried he was about to break his neck. However Bdubs’ grackle like wings snapped open as soon as they were free, catching just enough air to slow the hermit’s descent to the ground into something that wouldn’t break his shins. He hit the ground with a stumble but managed not to fall flat on his face with a couple of well timed flaps of his wings, stirring up a bit of dirt and his own feathers in the process. Tango really had to struggle not to laugh at the state of Bdubs, the ruffled mess he’d made of his wings brought to mind some sort of witches pet bird that had survived one too many experimental spells.

“Do you always greet everyone like that?” Grian asked, cracking up half way through. Unable to hold it back any longer, he wheezed a laugh and doubled over. Tango couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer either, seeing Grian's mirth was just that bit too much.

“Well now I thought that was an impressive recovery but you guys laugh it up, I see how it is.” Bdubs said, crossing his arms. Holding an expression that was somewhere between a stern look and a pout. It really didn’t help the hilarity of his overall disheveled thus hilarious appearance. Finally Tango caught his breath enough to speak again, it was a struggle to get the giggles under control.

“Sorry man, that was just too funny. You alright?” Tango asked, wiping tears from his eyes to try and see Bdubs clearer.

“Yes, fine, took you long enough to ask.” Bdubs grumped but he didn’t seem actually annoyed, just playing the part.

“Good, so you got a minute to talk?” Tango tried to get back on task but he was having a lot of fun just joking around.

“Right, we have some important questions.” Grian added.

“Uh-oh, important, huh? Well I guess we better get away from any potentially prying ears. This way boys.” Bdubs nodded and motioned for the two to follow him into the village, which they did. Tango stretched as they crossed the bridge, careful not to buffet Grian into the river with his wings. There was a gatehouse on the other side of the bridge that screamed of Bdub’s style and it brought a smile to Tango’s face, he was glad to have the hermit back, however it was he’d found his way here. On the other side of the gatehouse there was a stable, but beyond that there wasn’t a lot done, most of it still an abandoned village. He had no doubt that the two would make something stunning, if what was already done was any clue. Soon they came to a quaint little cottage nestled in a low spot near the road. Bdubs stepped in and held the door for the two pranksters.

“You’re very good at working a lot of detail into a small space.” Grian complimented.

“Thank you! I’m particularly proud of how the toilet turned out.” Bdubs chattered, pointing the closet sized space out and Grian burst into laughter, having not expected that, clearly. Tango chuckled and sat at the table.

“Okay, guys, focus.” Tango at least tried to make an attempt at being the serious one here.

“Oh, right, right, sorry. Here, let me get an extra chair.” Bdubs offered and as soon as it was in place Grian flopped onto it, Bdubs sitting in the last chair.

“Alright, so Bdubs, you were part of the NHO, right?” Tango asked, leaning back on the chair, the space was fairly small leaving them sitting quite close together.

“...‘Were’ wow, hadn’t really thought of it like that but I guess without Etho or Beef…” Bdubs seemed saddened by the realization.

Tango rested a hand on Bdub’s hand, not having intended any upset.

“I-I’m fine, it’s fine. What did you need to know?” He asked, trying to pull himself together again.

“Well, you’d have been hanging out with Doc when he started dating Ren right? We need some intel on how that started.” Tango explained.

“Oh goodness, well I was around but I don’t exactly know how they got together.” Bdubs admitted.

“Is there anything you can remember that might be helpful?” Grian pressed.

“Just that Doc was really smitten out of nowhere, but he doesn’t blabber his personal feelings much you see, he’s a tough guy and all. It’s not easy to get inside that mad scientist mind of his.” Bdubs said thoughtfully.

“So we’re back to square one.” Tango sighed.

“Sorry boys, I wish I could help more but this is a tough cookie. I have noticed they don’t spend a lot of time together anymore though, I thought that was pretty odd.”

“Yeah, that’s what we’re trying to fix.” Grian explained.

“You know what? You’re trying to rekindle their relationship right? So why not set them up on a date? There’s a couple ways you could pull this off. First you could approach each directly and tell them you’ve got a blind date set up for them. Or, alternatively, you could forge a couple of letters asking them out on dates from each other.”

“Oh that’s clever, I like it!” Grian said cheerfully, on board.

“We just gotta find someone who can copy their handwriting believably.” Tango noted.

“Cleo.” Grian said without an ounce of hesitation.

“So we just need what the letters should say then.” Tango said thoughtfully.

“Leave that to me, I can manage some really convincing romance that they’ll believe is the other.” Bdubs smirked.

“Didn’t you just say it was hard to get into Doc’s head?” Grian frowned.

“Don’t really need to, just have to put something together that  _ Ren _ will believe is from Doc.” Bdubs pointed out, standing and going to one of his barrel cupboards.

“Perfect. Now… we gotta set up a date for them to go on.” Grian grinned, looking back to Tango.

“Hm, either a fancy dinner, we’ll have to build a place, or maybe something a little more down to earth.” Tango mulled the options over, trying to figure out what was mostly likely to be suggested by either of the two in question.

“Like a picnic under the stars?” Grian suggested.

“Phantoms?” Tango gave Grian a doubtful look.

“Live entertainment!” Gian laughed.

“I suppose that could work, a phantom battle that we stage.” Tango considered the idea, phantoms were horrifying creatures but that could work to their advantage for dinner and a show.

“As long as we gear up properly it won’t be a problem, we just take the phantoms out before they can reach Ren and Doc, easy.”

“You say that now… well you did go head to head with Cleo and Cub during Xisuma’s competition, I suppose I shouldn’t doubt you.” Tango admitted.

“I’m sure you boys can handle it, here ya go. Get these to Cleo and good luck.” Bdubs said, handing the letters over. The ink barely dry enough to be handled so Tango was careful with the one he was handed. Grian did the same from the look of it.

“Thanks Bdubs, you’ve really come through for us.” Grian smiled.

“Any time, now get going, this mess obviously isn’t fixing itself.” Bdubs said, shooing them out of the door.

\--

Cleo’s ship loomed in the water ahead as they took off from the portal in the Pirate district, looping around the shoreline and sailing overhead they could see she wasn’t aboard but rather moving about her little port town filled with armor stands.

“Cleo!” Tango said enthusiastically as he flew past, just close enough for her to feel the air off of his wings. She squeaked and dropped the armor stand she’d been carrying but by the time he looped around to land in front of her she was glaring at him with icy daggers.

“Oh fuck you, if I wasn’t already a zombie you’d have given me a heart attack!” She snapped at him. Grian landed to her side, barely balanced on the dock.

“You weren't supposed to scare her.” He protested and Cleo jumped back, kicking off the ground as her emperor butterfly wings fluttered into action to take her several blocks back from both of them. Just as quickly as the deathly dull and colorless wings had started moving they went deathly still again.

“What do you two want? You should really learn to knock when barging into someone’s project.” Cleo scolded and Tango glanced around before looking back to her.

“Where though?” He questioned, causing Grian to cackle. Glancing around again Tango shrugged and knelt to knock on the dock, when he looked back up Cleo had her arms crossed but one hand holding her face. The distinct sound of an exasperated sigh escaping her.

“We came to ask for your help.” Grian said finally, the words still had a giggly edge to them.

“Oh well you’re off to a  _ great  _ start let me tell you.” She said, turning her earlier glare on Grian now, each of her words dripping with malicious sarcasm.

“Oh come on Cleo, it’s for a good cause, for a change. We need you to do some forgerimication.” Tango said, holding the letters out to her but she picked up her dropped armor stand and turned away.

“I’m busy.” She said simply, starting up the plank pathway as she’d been before they arrived.

“Please Cleo, it’s for Doc and Ren, their happiness may weigh on this little ploy working.” Grian said, his tone going soft yet serious and Cleo paused but didn’t turn around.

“What do you mean by that? What’s happened with Doc and Ren?” She asked, a bit of irritation melting out of her voice.

“They aren’t talking, both are miserable and can’t seem to get up the nerve to talk to each other.” Grian explained.

“Bdubs wrote these letters as them, we need you to rewrite them in their handwriting so they believe the letters are really from each other.” Tango added, holding up the letters again even though her back was turned.

“This is extremely underhanded, you know that right?” She asked, finally glancing over her shoulder, she at least didn’t seem angry anymore.

“Exactly why we came to you.” Tango grinned and that brought a laugh from the undead pirate.

“Alright, I’ll give you that one. Meet me in the tavern in a few minutes.” She said and resumed walking, presumably to put the armor stand down where she wanted it. Grian came into sight, hand raised for a high five, which Tango didn’t hesitate to grant. Together they headed up the hill to the tavern, finding one of the very few if not the only empty table to sit down and wait. Like she’d said though, it was only a few minutes before she appeared in the tavern as well, joining them at the table. Tango handed the letters over and with a couple blank sheets of paper she set to work.

Tango watched quietly as Cleo copied the letter word for word but changing the handwriting precisely, he could honestly confuse the work for the actual hermit who she was copying if he didn’t know better. It was that moment he decided it best not to piss her off again, he didn’t want to imagine the kind of horrible things she could write to Impulse in Tango’s own handwriting and make his boyfriend think something was wrong.

“Wow, I think Bdubs could make a career writing this sort of scandalous mush.” Cleo noted after a bit, looking to be nearly done.

“Really? I didn’t read it.” Grian admitted.

“I can’t read.” Tango lied in as deadpan a tone as he could manage, making Grian laugh and Cleo trying to hold a laugh back.

“Quit that, I need to stay steady.” She scolded them.

“Sorry, except not really.” Tango snickered, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed and putting the knuckle of his right wing to his face to try and muffle his laughter, infectious as it was.

“Uh-huh.” Cleo drawled, more focused on her task again, very focused as she forged Doc’s signature. Tango was watching her so closely out of curiosity that he didn’t see another figure approaching them until it was too late.

“Hi guys, oh is that Doc’s handwriting? Did he… wait is that a love letter?” Scar asked as he looked over Cleo’s shoulder. All three of them froze, slowly turning to look at Scar. “Uh, guys that’s kinda creepy…”

Tango was up and moving in a sudden blur, his wings snapping forward fast enough to knock over chairs and armor stands alike, wrapping around Scar and pulling him close, giving the startled builder no view other than Tango’s own intense expression.

“You saw  _ nothing _ .” Tango growled, doing his best to sound intimidating, the fact he was serious did that on it’s own though from the panicked look Scar cast him from within the cocoon of wings.

“I… what? I um, wait, is Doc writing love letters to Cleo?” Scar squeaked, slightly terrified but very confused.

“Oh  _ fuck _ no.” Cleo snapped, somewhere between disturbed and amused.

“This is a problem, he’s gonna blow our cover to Doc.” Grian said tensely.

“I’m just here for tuna.” Scar protested quietly.

“Scar you are going to sit your ass here and wait until this stuff is dealt with or  _ Jellie won’t be getting her organic tuna anymore _ .” Cleo said firmly, by far the most threatening sounding of the group.

“Oh no… not the tuna.” Scar whispered, still confused but not questioning things further. Tango glanced over his wing to check and sure enough Grian had the finished letters out of sight now.

“So you’ll keep this quiet, sit right here with Cleo and not cause any trouble?” Tango asked, letting his wings unfurl then fold around his shoulders alone.

“I don’t care enough about Doc’s love life to cut off Jellie’s food supply.” Scar assured them, still shaken.

“Good, with any luck this won’t take too long.” Grian grinned, relaxing.

“Can I at least learn a bit about your armorstand magic while I’m here?” Scar asked Cleo pensively.

“Eh, I suppose I could use an extra set of hands.” Cleo shrugged then that icy glare zeroed in on Tango. “Don’t.”

“Aww.” He laughed, keeping the dirty joke he’d had right on the edge of his lips to himself.

“Let’s get going, we still have a bit to go yet.” Grian said, standing and Tango nodded.

“Good luck, try not to get killed.” Cleo said offhandedly, her tone didn’t make it sound likely she’d shed a single tear at their funerals if they did. Scar still looked confused but at least he wasn’t actively trying to get into the middle of what Tango and Grian had planned.

As the sun began to set the two took to the air, leaving Cleo’s pirate town behind. It was at that point, high in the air that Tango spoke up.

“So what’s the next step?” He didn’t have to raise his voice much, Grian was close enough to hear easily.

“I think next we stay up all night. We can’t plan that Doc and Ren haven’t slept, so it’ll be up to us to draw in the phantom show.” Grian explained.

“That’s easy enough, then what?”

“Tomorrow morning you deliver the letters and I’ll start setting up the location for their date. Giving them all day to get ready and be a bit nervous should work out since they’ll be anticipating what to say to each other.” Grian went on and Tango nodded, agreeing with the plan.

“Perfect, I’ll see you tomorrow!” Tango said cheerfully before angling one wing to send him into a wide horizontal arc until he was in line with Impulse’s base. Leveling out his wings then giving them a powerful snap he propelled himself that way, closing his eyes a moment to just enjoy the sensation of the wind on his face.

It wasn’t long before he was stepping out of the bubble column into Impulse’s base, throwing his hands out wide as he broke the water’s surface and calling out in the most theatrical manner possible. “Where is my one true love?”

Impulse’s laughter echoed from around the corner. “I’m over here, handsome.”

Tango wasted no time sauntering that way, a bounce in his step that matched the grin on his face, he couldn’t help feeling upbeat as he returned to Impulse after several hours away.

“So things went well?” Impulse asked with a smile.

“So far, we’ve got a plan laid out, a letter from Doc for Ren and a letter from Ren to Doc, both need delivered tomorrow.” Tango beamed, puffing his chest out with pride.

“Wait, how did you get letters from them?” Impulse’s smile faltered a little as suspicion crept into his expression. Knowing he couldn’t keep it from his sharp lover Tango just rolled with it shamelessly.

“Bdubs and Cleo.”

“Ohh… this is not going to go well.” Impulse sighed, bringing a hand to his face in a slow facepalm.

“Oh, show a bit more faith, this plan of re-romancification is gonna work flawlessly. Probably.” Tango grinned, easily sounding as confidently as he felt, he was pretty stoked for this plan, really.

“I’ll start planning your funeral and my miserable future as a widower.” Impulse said woefully.

“We aren’t even married.” Tango reminded him.

“Then we should elope tonight, while there’s still the chance.” Impulse lamented and Tango honestly wasn’t sure if Impulse was joking or not.

“I’m not going to die.” Tango insisted a little more seriously, letting the theatrics drop for a moment. The tired expression Impulse gave him said it all, without him having to say a word. Tango could tell he was worried, uneasy. The look in Impulse’s eyes alluded to the fact that the other hermit had likely spent the last few hours on edge, imagining the worst. Tango crossed the remaining few blocks between them and swept Impulse up into his arms, wrapping him in a tight hug, wings wrapping gently around the worried hermit after Impulse’s own wings folded against his back, out of the way.

“Are you always going to tempt fate like this?” Impulse muttered softly, resting his head on Tango’s shoulder.

“Life’s no fun without a little danger now and then, just a little thrill to keep things interesting.” Tango pointed out calmly, concerned by Impulse’s level of hesitance.

“I don’t think I can handle actually losing you. Rationally I know that Doc… He wouldn’t  _ actually _ kill anyone.” Impulse’s tone was shaky and full of doubt, it was worrying. Genly Tango slipped a hand up to caress Impulse’s cheek then carefully lifted his face so their eyes would meet.

“What  _ happened _ to you? Doc isn’t the one who nearly killed you.” Tango asked, expression soft as he searched Impulse’s face for any clue. Impulse’s eyes were somewhat distant, as if he was seeing something done and past.

“Doc is deadly protective… without Rendog to keep him in check I’m worried how he’ll react to this level of meddling.” Impulse said quietly, voice barely above a whisper.

“That’s why you’re afraid of him?” Tango asked softly, more worried about Impulse than anything else at the moment, he didn’t miss the sudden intensity in Impulse’s eyes as they focused back on him, on the present.

“I’m not afraid of  _ Doc _ . I’m afraid of  _ losing  _ you _. _ ” Impulse clarified firmly. It made sense and Tango sighed softly, bringing his other hand up, cradling Impulse’s face in both hands and meeting his eyes, keeping his own tone serious, honest.

“Despite what it seems like sometimes, I’m not an idiot. I’m here to live life to the fullest and that includes loving you to my last breath, I’ll get into all kinds of crazy schemes and shenanigans but I’m always going to come back to you. I’m not going to bail off into something I’m certain is going to get me killed, I know what I can handle and I can handle a lot. Impulse, I’m not going to leave you. Not if I have anything to say about it. My heart won’t stop beating until yours does.” Tango promised, dead serious, meaning every word and finally Impulse seemed to relax, the worry seeming to abate.

“I shouldn’t doubt you, I’m sorry. It just became painfully clear how empty the world is without you. I love you.” Impulse said softly, reaching up and wrapping his fingers around one of Tango’s hands, pulling it down and holding it to his chest. “My heart is still beating, close as it came to stopping, I would go through it all again just to hear you laugh one more time.”

The pull on Tango’s heart strings was too strong for him to resist any longer and he closed the remaining distance between them, pressing his lips to Impulse’s, gently at first but more intensely as the other hermit returned the affection in kind. He could feel Impulse’s heart racing as he seemed to melt in Tango’s embrace and the mischievous redstoner happily held held his boyfriend all the tighter to keep him on his feet. Time became an irrelevant construct as they lived fully in that moment, all other worries drifting away to leave only them and Tango would have it no other way, these were the moments he lived for. Needless to say, Tango had no trouble staying up the rest of the night, though that meant keeping Impulse up with him.

…

“If this Area 77 business is really over then why is Doc still out there?” Impulse asked as he joined Tango on the second level of the nether hub.

“I’m not sure, something to do with an amusement park or some nonsense. He tried to play it all off and I guess it was enough for Xisuma to let things slide.” Tango shrugged, in all honesty he hadn’t been paying much attention to Doc’s explanation when they returned from the past. Considering Impulse was dying in his arms at the time he’d been rightfully distracted.

“Well, at least Rendog is hanging around Hermit Land, we would have needed to head that way anyway.” Impulse shrugged, glancing down the tunnel then back to Tango with a grin. Impulse didn’t have to say it for Tango to know exactly what he was thinking.

“Oh yeah, you’re on!” Tango smirked and no sooner had he spoke Impulse was off, launching off the ground with a beat of his wings. Tango took off after him, grinning like a loon as they raced down the tunnel that grew increasingly tight. While the tunnel had been designed the way it had to save on resources it had turned out to be a decent test of skill. Racing down it with wings as large as his was quite the challenge, he had to be mindful of just how he moved and he buffeted the wall or the top of the ice boat road more often than not. Still he had a blast, not caring how sore his wings were by the time he and Impulse reached the portal to New Hermitvill.

“I win.” Impulse said teasingly as he stepped into the portal first and Tango laughed, stepping in after the hermit he loved most.

It was clear skies on the other side and Tango breathed in deep the crisp, spruce scented air, it was a welcome change to contrast the harshness of the nether. He joined Impulse on the lege of the tower.

“You sure you’re up to this? You didn’t have to come.” Tango reminded gently.

“I’m good, remember, it’s not Doc I’m afraid of.” Impulse pointed out, offering Tango a confident smile and Tango was just relieved to see Impulse more relaxed again.

“We’ve got this.” Tango grinned, not afraid and he dove off the ledge without further hesitation, knowing Impulse was following suit without having to look. Together they swooped up into the air, claiming the open sky as their own as they cut a path straight to and into Area 77. As they crossed above the fence Tango scanned the ground, having no real idea of where in the large base Doc would be hanging around.

“There he is.” Impulse called out after a moment, pointing to the lone figure near a central building. With a challenging and loud laugh Tango dove, his wings folding against his body as it angled towards that building. One wing snapped open briefly to alter his course a bit before both so he could catch the air, gliding just above the ground, feeling blades of grass brush his wings and hands.

“Hey Doc!” He shouted as he zipped by, wings angling to align with the air and let his momentum swing him back up high enough to give his wings another powerful beat against the air. Just as the tips of his wings had nearly reached each other a trident blasted through the space his left wing had just been. Tango watched the trident return to it’s master as he pushed off the air again with his wings so he could roll into a turn, facing Doc again. “Dude! Watch where you throw that thing!”

“Don’t dive bomb people if you don’t want to be swung at!” Doc called back, trident in hand. Tango watched the other hermit close as he angled forward enough to drift in for a smooth landing only a half dozen blocks from him.

Before Tango could quip a reply Impulse landed from almost straight above, practically slamming into the ground between them, it was enough to send a little shockwave that carried a ring of dust out away from Impulse while he stood.

“ _ That _ was so  **cool** !” Tango practically squeaked, unashamed of the less than masculine noise and practically swooning, even nearly getting skewered by a trident hadn’t made his heart race the way his suddenly imposing beloved did. He had to catch himself though, focusing back on the task at hand as he forced his gaze off of Impulse and back to Doc. “I brought my attack hippie so, why don’t we just put weapons down and have a nice civilized conversation?”

“Attack…?” Doc burst into laughter, waving a hand as if that would grant him mercy from the hilarity. “Do you realize how accurate that is?”

“Uh, yeah duh, that’s why I said it.” Tango scoffed playfully, relieved to see Doc lighten up a bit, he glanced towards Impulse as he walked over to stand next to him, seeing him visibly relax as well.

“Oh, that was good, it’s been a bit since I had a good laugh.” Doc admitted, seeming cheered.

“You have seemed a bit grumpy lately, here, maybe this will cheer you up further.” Tango offered, pulling the letter from his pack and holding it out to Doc. The amused look slipped from Doc’s face, replaced by an inquisitive one as he accepted the gingerly folded piece of paper.

“A letter? From who?” Doc asked curiously, unfolding the parchment.

“Rendog, he asked us to deliver it to you.” Impulse explained, his voice still a little tight from the earlier tension. From the way Doc’s attention snapped from the letter to Impulse he must have noticed and Tango glanced between them, a little worried a fight was about to break out.

“Well then, I’ll have to read that in a moment but I’ve been wanting to speak to you, Impulse.” Doc said, folding the letter back up and slipping it into the inside pocket of his tattered lab coat. His voice had taken on that serious, vaguely threatening tone again, leaving Tango a little tense, he didn’t want to see the two get into it.

“What about?” Impulse asked, his voice carefully controlled but the slight shift in his stance left his hand closer to the sword belted at his side.

Doc sighed, stabbing his trident into the ground and taking a step closer to Impulse, his hands staying in sight. “About that scuffle on the riverbank. I saw something in you that day, something I understand as it’s something within myself as well.”

“And what would that ‘something’ be?” Impulse questioned, looking like he was unsure how to take that and honestly Tango wasn’t sure what Doc meant, so he was glad Impulse asked.

“The willingness to kill to protect, or to die to do so. It is something that, when I joined this community I promised Xisuma I would never turn on another hermit unless they themselves had become a threat. At the time it felt necessary but it’s been a long time since that day and I had grown very comfortable among everyone. I care about everyone here, so seeing you turn on Scar was quite the shock you know? I acted how I felt I had to, suddenly you were the bad guy and I had to stop you by any means necessary. I was willing to die protecting Scar if it came down to it.” Doc explained, his posture relaxed and his tone honest. Tango glanced from him to Impulse to see how he was taking the information, but he was unreadable, it was a little spooky.

“In all honesty I didn’t know I had that kind of trait until you took Tango from me.” Impulse replied, his voice low, almost threatening, like he was displeased at having learned that about himself.

“I should never have done that to either of you, I was misinformed but that has been cleared up now. I just wish I had recognized your reaction for what it was at the time, I didn’t recognize what it was until Ren spelled it out. If I had actually killed you that day, I would have regretted it. I would have killed one of the very people I swore to protect.” The level of seriousness and emotion in Doc’s tone made it evident even to Tango that the hermit was telling the truth, he really was remorseful. Impulse sighed, looking to the ground then back again.

“It’s alright Doc, I’m not going to hold a grudge, I just didn’t understand your motives, I was worried you’d turned on us all.”

“Never.” Doc said with a shake of his head then held his arms open. “Let’s put this behind us, yes?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Impulse agreed, accepting the rare hug from Doc and Tango released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, relaxing as the tension evaporated from the group.

“Let’s never be on opposite sides of the battlefield again, play pretend or not. As much as I respect you for it, we are too deadly and someone will get hurt.” Doc said as they stepped apart.

“Agreed. Just, don’t touch my Tango.” Impulse smirked, though there was a level of serious weighing the sentence down.

“Deal.” Doc said firmly.

…..

Tango was relieved things had gone as smoothly as they had with Doc and as he and Impulse circled upwards into the air above the military base, Tango dared peek down at the ground below. There he saw Doc walking towards one of the hangers at a slow pace as he read the letter.  _ Perfect _ , Tango thought to himself, grinning as he turned his attention to Hermit Land. His wingbeats alternated from Impulse’s in perfect time, like the backbeat of a song. It was almost no time at all before the racetrack of ice came into view and Tango tilted his wings to alter his flight into a wide loop around it, searching the track below for the hermit they sought. It didn’t take long though, Ren, with his red shirt like an expendable extra in a sci-fi series stood out starkly against the blue of the ice.

With a big grin Tango folded his wings and dipped into a dive, falling through the air with the grace of a falling star, until he was nearly too late to break the momentum at which point he unfurled his wings, quickly slowing down just enough not to become a giant splatter on the fresh ice. His feet hit the ice and he had more than enough speed to slide fast enough to rival the boats the track was meant for. He lifted and half folded his wings, leaning into the trajectory to zip forward like an arrow. “Ren! Guess who!”

Ren’s attention snapped to him at the sound and quickly the other hermit was scrambling on the slick surface to avoid Tango crashing into him. Despite Tango’s best efforts he just narrowly missed tackling Rendog, sliding past dangerously fast. Tango opened his wings, attempting to catch the air the way he did when landing, however this managed to just send him into a wild spin.

“Wooo!” Tango shouted, having a great deal of fun from the unexpected spin, that was until he crashed into one of the partially built walls. It left him winded and slightly dazed but as the spinning stars faded he saw Impulse’s concerned face. To that, he laughed, a bit wheezy and squeaky but amused. “Oh, that was great.”

“You looked like you were having fun.” Impulse chuckled, visibly relaxing at the sound of Tango’s laugh, just as he’d figured his boyfriend would.

“You know it, bet it’d be a blast to do that together.” Tango smirked, almost forgetting why they’d come until Rendog spoke.

“As hilarious as that was to watch, maybe you should wait until Speedy Pines is actually open before you clown around on the track.”

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that?” Tango pouted but the doubtful look Ren gave him just sent him into a little fit of laughter.

“So what brings you to this neck of the woods? Other than your attempts to break yours?” Ren asked once the laughter had died down.

“Well, since you asked.” Tango grinned and fished the letter from his pack, holding it out. “Here you are.”

“A letter? You aren’t usually the one running mail.” Rendog noted as he accepted the letter and opened it, his breath catching as he immediately recognized who it was from. Tango did his best to remain as natural as he could, not wanting to tip Rendog off that anything was other than it seemed.

“Anything riveting?” He asked after a moment, letting curiosity act as a cover for nerves.

“You could say that… this is important, if you’ll excuse me and… oh, don’t blow anything up.” Rendog said distractedly as he turned away from them.

“No promises.” Tango laughed and looked to Impulse. “Guess we best leave the hermit to his reading.”

“Probably a good idea, let’s go.” Impulse chuckled and pulled Tango to his feet. Together they took to the air, quickly losing sight of Ren as they went. With that stage of the plan complete it was time to head back to the main island and catch up with Grian.

\--------

Tango could see Grian scurrying around the top of the hill as they flew in. The other hermit was darting about, placing blocks or taking them down as he set up the location for Ren and Doc’s date. There was a quaint little picnic rug laid out, romantic candles, some floating in the air to add a mystical edge to the scene. Those made it hazardous to land close however, so he, then Impulse just after him, landed a little ways off and walked the rest of the way up. They could see Grian’s head bob in and out of sight as he hopped around from shulker to wherever he put things down. Tango was so distracted watching his friend hop around like an idiot he didn’t notice a tripwire until he tripped on it.

Rockets flew, exploding close to the ground, practically in Tango’s face, there was an ungodly number of them, leaving him momentarily blinded while his ears rang. It was a disconcerting shock, leaving reality slightly unclear. In the bright whiteness of the flash he was brought back to the white concrete walls of Area 77, the sound summoning a surge of panic through him and a need to find Impulse. As his eyes adjusted back he found his gaze searching the ground and there beside him was his lover, the state of him making Tango’s blood run cold. He saw Impulse there, large open wound on his chest, fresh blood spilling past burnt flesh, smaller wounds on his upper arms. Impulse wasn’t moving but blood spilled from his lips as he struggled to breathe. Pain and fear twisted into a ball of rage and Tango felt all else turn to a blur as he launched himself at the cause, towards the militant captain with a crossbow in his hands, tackling him to the ground…

“TANGO!” It wasn’t him… it was Grian.

Tango shook his head, dazed, breathing hard and shaking as he looked from Grian, who he had pinned down, there were no white walls, no confined space but open sky and grassy hilltop. Confusion compounding, Tango let go of Grian’s throat and stood, stumbling back a step, turning he saw Impulse on the ground but there was no blood. It looked though, that Impulse was in the throws of the same flashback and Tango rushed to his side, scooping the trembling hermit up into his arms. Gently he rubbed Impulse’s back, speaking softly but sternly.

“It’s alright, you weren’t hit, you’re okay, we’re okay. Just breathe, it’s okay, we’re not in any danger.” He wished he could sound more reassuring but he knew he was shaking too. He did his best to combat that by hugging Impulse tightly but then loosened his grip, realizing Impulse needed to breathe. Slowly Tango felt a shaky hand move across his chest and he moved to take hold of that hand, holding it tight. He loosened his grip a bit more so he could look Impulse in the eyes if he’d opened them and as he moved Impulse pulled that hand to his chest. Impulse’s heart was racing and his breathing was ragged but his eyes were open. Tango met his gaze and watched as the panic and confusion melted away, slowly both of their breathing steadied, the shaking was a bit slower to abate but it did indeed fade as well.

“Are… you two okay?” Grian squeaked, only a few blocks away but sounding quite worried. The glare Tango snapped on the troublesome hermit could have melted obsidian, or sent a dragon into hiding if the way Grian shrank back was any indication. He wasn’t sure how to respond, he was angry and there was a lashing at the edge of his tongue, but he knew the other hermit hadn’t intended any of that to happen.

“Test your rockets before you load them in dispensers and use dirt to test your dispenser timing. Are we clear?” Tango asked, his voice wavering between enraged and forced calm as he struggled not to verbally tear into his prankster friend.

“Duly noted.” Grian nodded, swallowing hard. Tango had to wonder how scary he must look when upset like this and as he calmed down his eyes fell to Grian’s neck, the skin there still bright red from the stranglehold.

“Are you okay?” Tango finally asked, his tone much more level now.

“Y-yeah… I didn’t mean to scare you guys like that. I’m sorry.” Grian sighed, looking ashamed.

“It’s fine… just, let’s skip the pyrotechnics maybe?” Tango suggested and he felt Impulse rest his head on Tango’s shoulder. His hand was still to Impulse’s chest, the hermit’s heart had steadied out to something more normal but the flashback to his near death couldn’t be good for him. Tango would be lying to say he wasn’t worried, he turned his head and kissed the top of Impulse’s head.

“Fireworks will be scrapped, don’t worry. Why don’t you guys just have a seat for a bit, I can handle things until nightfall.” Grian suggested to which Tango nodded, picking Impulse up and walking out of the working area. He got settled under a tree, setting Impulse in his lap before wrapping his wings around him.

“I love you.” Impulse murmured quietly.

“I love you, too.” Tango said warmly, hugging Impulse all the tighter for a moment. He rested his head against’ Impulse’s and fell silent, watching Grian tear out all the dispensers and redstone. He remembered then, that Grian had wanted help with the redstone, he must have had this sort of idea brewing since the beginning but with as adverse as Tango felt about rockets at the moment he figured this was probably for the best. The last thing they needed was for him or Impulse to have flashbacks like that while trying to fight phantoms.

Tango’s focus on his surroundings slipped as his thoughts turned inward, the only outward force catching his mind being Impulse, a constant anchor to the waking world. He was fairly tired at this point, the sudden rush of adrenaline on top of the rest of the day, the night before and day before that was taking its toll. He’d love to just take Impulse home, snuggle up and pass out, but that wasn’t an option without bailing on everyone else. It startled him how fast reality had melted, how closely he’d come to strangling Grian, he didn’t want to kill anyone. Now that he considered that though, what Doc had said earlier about himself and Impulse was probably true about him too, that he’d kill to protect. That left him to wonder though, whas he selfless enough to die to protect? He wasn’t sure and he wasn’t sure if that should scare him.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Grian chastising someone, stern athouritizing tone an all, which was very unusual. Tango had already missed the first half of the tirade by the time he tuned in and looked up.

“-and can you imagine how terrible that would be? Not to mention the mess! You should be ashamed of yourself, I’m sure your parents would be, I am, I’m disgusted even! Now you listen here, you stop that and march right out of here. Go find a hole to live in and change your name to Edgar.” Grian had a firm expression to match his tone, finger raised level with the face of the creature he was chewing out, which was oddly enough a creeper that actually looked humbled, repentant even. With its head low it stalked off, heading down the hill.

“Well that’s one way to ruin a mob’s day.” This was a voice new to the mix and Tango’s eyes darted from the cliff the creeper had gone down to the source. He almost jumped out of his skin when he spotted Doc, but then the color of the sky caught his attention and he realized the good doctor was right on time.

“It was about to blow everything up!” Grian protested, voice squeaking again, he was either offended or Tango might have actually done some damage to the builder’s throat and the redstoner flinched at the thought.

“Goodness Grian, I didn’t know Mumbo was into rough lovin.” Doc noted off handedly, having noticed the bruise that had formed on Grian’s neck.

“Wait, what? No… that was Tango.” Grian sputtered, taken off guard. Doc raised his hands.

“Forget I said anything, I don’t want to know.”

“I almost killed him is all, nothing lewd, this time.” Tango spoke up, standing and bringing Impulse to his own feet. Doc gave them a doubtful look but shrugged it off, glancing around at the area then back to the three of them.

“So are you three in charge of entertainment? I suppose a bunch of hippie clowns is fitting enough.” Doc shrugged.

“Just leave it to us, we’ve got this.” Grian grinned, throwing his hands out to the sides theatrically. Behind Grian was the most unusual of impromptu stages. It had a few levels supported by fence posts and Tango supposed they must be to allow the three of them different vantage points. Solid enough in theory and working well in the tight space at the edge of the space he’d laid out. Tango couldn’t help but think it looked like something one would build for their cat to play on though.

“I’ll trust you to be interesting.” Doc said, going over to the red and white checkered blanket laid out to sit down. Just as he got settled Grian hopped up on the stage, motioning for Tango and Impulse to follow. With a shrug Tango hopped to the highest platform with a little boost of his wings. He had quite the view from up there, across the whole hill and beyond to the market district. Impulse got settled on the lower platform and weapons were drawn. The sky was growing dark… and Rendog had yet to arrive.

Just as Tango began to worry that Rendog might stand this whole thing up, the hermit finally arrived, climbing up the side of the hill with some level of hesitation. His pace was a little slower than one would usually expect from him, as if weighed down by a thousand questions and fears. Still, with a direct request, he’d come and Tango was relieved, this plan would have flopped before it could begin if one of the two had decided to just not show up.

Tango watched as Rendog went over to where Doc was sitting and joined him. He would have loved to play wallflower and see what was going on but the shriek of phantoms cut the silence of the early night. Looking up he could see a few as they popped into existence overhead, as if born of the darkness itself. Near him Impulse and Grian opened fire on the creatures so he followed suit, opening fire on the winged pests with the fury of… all ten arrows he had.

“Crap…” Tango hissed, realizing he’d run out of ammunition already. He looked back to the sky and the number of the creatures had seemingly doubled. That was bad, that was  _ very _ bad. He realized as the sky filled with more and more phantoms that he and Grian hadn’t needed to stay up through the night. Doc and Ren had probably been doing that plenty, it seemed entirely likely that at the very least Ren had been missing sleep over their situation. Cursing under his breath Tango sprang off the platform and gave his wings a sharp beat, then another, sailing straight up into the air, trading bow for sword as he zeroed in on some of the phantoms. He did his best to angle out of the way of the two with ranged weapons and instead intercept any phantoms that aimed straight for the picnicking couple. He didn’t want them getting attacked, that wasn’t the point of this. He swooped, blade swinging, a beat of his wings and he looped back up again, rolled and swooped again, knocking another out of the sky, there were  _ so many _ phantoms it was staggering. It quickly became clear that there were more of the creatures than the three could handle and on his fourth swoop he saw Doc on his feet with trident in hand.

Looking up again Tango saw the sheer number of Phantom’s in the air and it was more than a little demoralizing. He cut a few more out of the air only to see three more dive at Impulse and knock him from his post, Grian was already on the ground, bleeding. Tango snarled in pain as several hit him, sharp teeth digging into his wings and back. He gave his wings a powerful, sharp beat, slinging the creatures off of him and he twisted in the air, his sword slicing through the air just behind them, slicing several in half. Another beat of his wings kept him from hitting the ground, he practically scrambled to get to the other side of the platform where he’d seen Impulse fall. As he sailed over he saw Impulse take to the air, dodging phantoms swooping for him while still trying to snipe them down. More shrieking filled the air and Tango had to dive to avoid another attack but he quickly pursued his pursuers to take them from the air. He could hear the sounds of tridents and bows filling the air to combat those shrieks, it felt like a battlefield and that was decidedly  _ not _ what they’d been aiming for. Tango dropped in on another Phantom that had been aiming for Doc’s head, spearing the beast with his blade. To keep from crashing into Doc, Tango beat his wings hard, only to collide with some of the floating candles and there was no way to describe it other than sudden burning pain in his wings.

He didn’t remember hitting the ground but evidently he did, recovering from the shock Tango looked around, he saw there were still phantoms in the air, less now thankfully but now there were mobs coming up from the shadows around the hill, there were skeletons and zombies shambling that way.

“What kind of suicidal, hippie idea was this?” Doc snapped at Ren as he cut down a zombie.

“Excuse me? I wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for you.” Ren shot right back sharply.

_ Oh hell… _

Tango pushed himself up and rushed past the two, sword sweeping in a wide arc to knock back the mobs advancing up the hill. His wings burned in protest when he beat them against the air to keep from tumbling down the hill but he didn’t have time to stop and take stock of them. He turned fast, hearing a phantom hot on his trail but saw it struck down with a trident so his attention quickly switched back to the mobs on the hill just in time to see the flashing of a Creeper about to explode. He gave no hesitation in kicking the beast down the hill, causing it to explode against a load of skeletons that had been taking aim.

“Is this supposed to represent your point?” Doc asked sharply as he cut down another zombie.

“Damn it Doc, you’re an idiot.” Ren snapped, frustration boiling over.

“Please stop fighting!” Grian shouted at the two.

“Stay out of this!” Both of them snapped back at him in unison.

Tango flinched at that, a little surprised, even though they weren’t yelling at him they might as well have been, this had gone terribly wrong. The last phantom was struck from the sky and the nearest wave of mobs was beaten back, the five of them stood their ground on the hill, now pockmarked with creeper holes and littered with arrows.

“This… this is insanity, I’m going home.” Rendog huffed, annoyed and hurt, he gripped his sword tight enough his knuckles were white and Tango started to say something but he instead glanced to Doc. Doc however looked equally upset and said nothing, letting Ren go without argument.

“Guys…” Tango tried but Rendog wasn’t slowing down and Doc turned away as well, his face unreadable as he headed down the opposite side of the hill, heading for the nearest nether portal. Tango’s attention snapped back to his partners in crime. Impulse looked a little worse for wear but he was still standing. Grian had taken an arrow to the shoulder and there was blood smearing his face from a wound somewhere behind his hairline but he otherwise seemed alright.

“I don’t think that could have gone worse.” Grian admitted.

“Setting this up at night and outside was the worst possible idea.” Impulse pointed out, sounding like that really should have been obvious from the start and honestly, it should have.

“I thought we could handle it.” Grian said weakly, clearly disappointed.

“Maybe we should follow those two and make sure they don't get hurt.” Tango interjected.

“Good point, I’ve got Rendog.” Grian said and turned to follow the hermit, yanking the arrow out of his shoulder as he went.

“Guess I’ll follow Doc.” Tango sighed, glancing to Impulse who looked like he might topple over any moment. “You need to get home, think you can make it?”

“Yeah, it’s not far. Just be careful.” Impulse said, too tired to argue. With a quick survey of the sky Impulse spread his wings and took to the air, gliding out towards his base. Taking a steadying breath Tango headed down the hill towards the market district, following the carnage of mobs that Doc had left in his wake. It was easy enough to read the hermit’s frustration from the state of his enemies and that was none too promising for Tango if Doc figured out exactly what had gone on. Still, Tango shoved those thoughts aside, that wasn’t what was important right now, what was important was making sure someone had Doc’s back while he was upset and likely not thinking clearly… not that he probably needed it.

He caught sight of Doc ahead finally, standing at the nether portal, staring at it silently. Tango crouched around the corner of a shop, watching Doc, waiting on him to either step through or… well he wasn’t sure, all of Doc’s bases that he knew of were through the nether. Finally after what was apparently a long moment of consideration Doc turned away from the nether portal and took to the air instead. Curious Tango gave Doc a few moment’s lead then took to the air after him, careful to match the other hermit’s pace so that hopefully he wouldn’t be noticed. He did his best to beat his wings as quietly as possible as Doc’s wings didn’t flap, flutter or beat against the air, instead lifting him by purely by the power of redstone and… Tango really wasn’t sure, the inner workings of Doc’s wings were a bit of a mystery, even to him. Luckily the hermit seemed to be too far inside his own head to notice Tango following him, much to Tango’s own relief. He tailed Doc over the districts of the island and when Doc started sailing downwards Tango was careful to keep above and out of sight, using the darkness of the sky to his advantage.

Doc drifted down to the ground in the fantasy district, not far from Ren’s base and Tango quickly saw why, seeing Ren down there by the lake that separated his base from Tango’s and False’s. It looked like Ren had found a horde of undead to take his frustrations out on, including a drowned who was raining tridents down on him. Tango circled overhead a moment before spotting a tree that should be just near enough to watch but far enough not to be seen landing in. Carefully Tango touched down into the branches, creeping into the leaves to conceal himself and he found none other than Grian already hiding there.

“Looks like Doc had a change of heart.” Tango whispered.

“Yeah, not a moment too soon, I was about to head out and help him myself. I swear he wants to get hurt.” Grian whispered back, indicating Ren.

“That’s not good.” Tango muttered, concerned they may have made things much worse. He turned his attention back to the lake bank, where Ren and Doc now stood back to back, fighting off mobs, Doc’s movements were sharp, precise while Ren’s were nearly frantic. It wasn’t that Ren wasn’t a good fighter, Tango knew he was a dangerous opponent, but in this moment he seemed to have gone into a nearly blind frenzy. It almost seemed like Ren wasn’t aware Doc was there at first and yet Doc knew exactly how to keep his footwork in line to keep him at Ren’s back, to keep the mobs from overrunning him. His movements were methodical, practiced even. It was mesmerizing to watch the battle from here, to see the two balance each other out, to watch mob after mob fall to their combined fury. Steadily Ren’s attacks became more and more controlled, more strategic rather than frantic, skilled rather than guided by blind emotion alone.

With a slash from Ren and a stab from Doc the last mobs met their demise at their feet and the two finally turned, facing each other. Tango could see that they were talking but he couldn’t hear, they were too far away. He inched closer to them without really thinking about it, straining to hear anything as the conversation looked to get heated. Tango tensed as he saw Doc reach with lighting speed and grab hold of Ren’s diamond sword, pulling the blade towards his own chest, angling the point there, blood dripping down the blade from where it cut into Doc’s hand. Ren looked slightly startled as Doc shouted.

“ **Is this what you want?** ” His voice was booming, rolling out across the lake like thunder. In an instant the look on Ren’s face shifted.

“ **No, this is!** ” Ren roared back, twisting his hold on the blade and stepping closer, shattering the distance between them swiftly, not giving Doc time to react before pressing his lips to those of the stunned hermit before him. Just as Doc started to reach up with his free hand to wrap around Ren, he stepped back again, suddenly out of Doc’s reach. A heavy silence fell between them, falling over the entire lake as if even the water was afraid of making a sound. Tango found himself leaning further over, hoping to catch anything said next… what he caught instead was a face full of water as the branch gave out from under him. The silence was broken by the resulting splash and he didn’t have to have a vantage point to know they were looking his way now. He could see his reflection in the glass bottom of the lake and he flailed a moment to right himself in the water and look back towards the bank.

Doc looked  _ furious _ . Tango watched as Doc’s attention snapped from him back to Ren, whatever was said was too quiet for Tango to catch but Ren seemed very upset. Doc flew off and Ren turned an angry, hurt expression on Tango before storming off to his base. With a heavy sigh Tango climbed up the other bank and looked into the tree where Grian was sat giggling.

“Well that could have gone better. What’s so funny?” Tango said drily.

“You… you kept edging out of the tree… and then there was a crack and there was no catching you. Oh the timing was horribly hilarious.” Grian cackled.

“Yeah but now they’re fighting, worse I think.” Tango pointed out and Grian sobered quickly at the news.

“Oh no… what are we going to do now?”

“I think we’ve done enough damage, I’m going home.” Tango huffed, spreading his wings and leaping away from the ground as they whipped downwards, pushing him up through the air. He touched down on the mountain of glory and pancakes a moment later and glanced back to see Grian flying away. His gaze fell to Ren’s base and suddenly Tango got the feeling it was probably unwise to be alone after irritating both Ren  _ and _ Doc so with a small huff he took to the air once more.

….

There was a soft boof from one of Impulse’s dogs when Tango stepped out of the bubblevator but the base was otherwise quiet. Tango glanced around and after a moment of wandering he found Impulse sitting next to an open chest of first aid supplies, he’d patched himself up but it was obvious enough he’d been waiting on Tango to return. He looked tired.

“Didn’t go well?” Impulse asked softly.

“You could say that, yeah. Pretty sure we made everything worse.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can say ‘I told you so’ if you want.” Tango grumbled. Instead though, Impulse pointed out the wounds Tango had gotten during the mob fight.

“Sit down and I’ll patch you up.” Impulse’s voice was warm, no judgment, only concern so with a nod Tango did as he was told, letting his boyfriend fret over him for a bit. Tango was nearly all patched up when another hermit stepped through Impulse’s nether portal, Tango heard Impulse’s dog give the hermit a half hearted woof. He looked up to see who it was just in time to see a trident flying for him but not fast enough to react to it. The three tined weapon buried itself in his shoulder and sent him tumbling back with a cry of pain. No sooner had it knocked him down it vanished, returning to it’s master by the power of loyalty. Tango tried to at least pull himself up into a sitting position and look towards his attacker, Impulse stood between them, blade drawn.

“Get out of my base Doc, you’ve got no right to attack Tango like this.” Impulse snarled, giving warning to deadly hermit. Impulse was already worn out, already hurt. In this state Tango feared that if Doc had murder on the mind…

“Get out of my way, Impulse.” Doc growled, passing his trident into his offhand.

“No.” Impulse snarled back, squaring up for a fight. Tango started pulling himself back to his feet but his left arm was all but useless, putting weight on it made the wound throb painfully and it held none of the strength it should so Tango had to rely more on his right arm and wing to pull himself up against the wall. All the while he didn’t take his eyes off of the two hermits before him in their standoff.

Doc took a step forward and Impulse slashed, staying more defensive and Tango realized his lover really didn’t have the energy for this fight. Doc didn’t even seem to notice the wound as he didn’t slow, grabbing Impulse with his cyborg arm and turning sharply, flinging Impulse against the portal. Impulse struck the side hard and dropped to the floor, slouching over and laying in the purple haze long enough to vanish through the portal. Doc turned sharply, full circle and bringing the trident forward again. Tango had no hope to dodge in time, barely moving enough not to get skewered in a more deadly manner, now his other shoulder being speared and pinning him to the wall.

“ **Why** ?” Doc roared at him, furious.

“Why what?” Tango grunted back, hands going up to try and force the trident free but there wasn’t enough strength left to do more than tremble. Doc had the trident in a firm hold despite using his wounded hand, blood oozing past a haphazardly wrapped bandage.

“Why would you and Rendog do this? Is this some kind of game to you lot? Is it revenge for Area 77? If this is just a prank it is a cruel one. I do not appreciate being  **_toyed with_ ** .” Doc’s tone was laced with venom but also… hurt.

“We were trying to help, Rendog didn’t know any more about any of this than you did, the letters were forgeries to get you guys to talk.” Tango admitted, grunting against the pain but his ears still caught the sound of someone coming through the nether portal.

“Wait… he wasn’t the one who came up with that horrible idea for a date?” Doc was caught off guard by that and as he moved back just a bit Tango caught sight of Impulse, who looked half-mad as he charged and Tango reacted as fast as he could, curling his legs up fast and kicking forward to knock Doc away from him and clear of Impulse’s incoming blade. Impulse however, didn’t have enough time to stop, though his last step was a stumble as panic filled his features, the enchanted diamond blade cut cleanly to bury deep in Tango’s abdomen. He could feel the shock through the blade as it struck the wall behind him.

“No… No.” Impulse muttered, wide eyed and half delirious, his hands falling away from the handle of the sword as his expression twisted into one of horror at what he’d just done.

“It’s okay, Impulse… it was my fault.” Tango said, but he didn’t like how quickly his voice was losing strength, breathing causing more pain not because the blade was anywhere near his lungs but because of the movement of his body worsening the wound on the pinned blade.

“You’ve got healing potions, get them!” Doc barked suddenly staggering up to his feet and hurrying over. The order seemed to snap Impulse into action and he hurried to the correct chest. Doc moved quickly but carefully, putting his cyborg hand against Tango’s chest and then pulling first the sword then the trident free, dropping both off to the side. He carefully lowered Tango to the ground, it surprised Tango how weak his legs were, he couldn’t stand if he’d wanted to but then looking down he realized he was losing a lot of blood fast, it was already pooling on the floor under him.

“Oh… no that’s bad.” Tango muttered, feeling light headed as he weighed the consequences.

“Save your strength.” Doc ordered firmly, serious tone acting like something tangible to be held onto. Doc raided the box of first aid supplies and tried to slow the bleeding while Impulse rushed back over, dropping to his knees with an armload of potions. Doc snatched one, a splash potion of healing from the look of it and moving the compress out of the way Doc shattered the potion in his hand so that the effect would shower Tango and begin it’s magic. Impulse uncorked a regular potion of healing and brought it to Tango’s lips so he could drink it. Already Tango felt a little less deathly, the quick treatment fighting the wounds before he had time to bleed out. It was lucky Impulse had them on hand, but then it made sense as well.

“You’ll be alright.” Doc said, tension easing out of his voice. Tango glanced down to where Doc had lifted the compress again, the wound sealing up from the inside out.

“That was too close.” Impulse said shakily, clearly upset.

“It was, I’m sorry.” Doc said, looking between Impulse and Tango, the readable side of his face showing just how bothered he really was by the day’s events.

“Maybe try a method of asking questions before attacking from now on… that goes for both of us really.” Impulse suggested tiredly, keeping an eye on Tango’s wounds and uncorking another potion.

“I should… I’ve taken far too much at face value lately and it keeps getting the two of you hurt.” Doc admitted, biting his lip as Tango downed another potion. Tango couldn’t miss the amount of regret in the other hermit’s voice, Doc really was frustrated with himself.

“It’s alright Doc, everyone has a breaking point. Grian and I’s plan could have… definitely been executed better.” Tango assured him, able to entirely bury the pain from his voice and offer his normal carefree tone again.

“Still… I messed up. You should have just let me take that hit, I deserved it.”

“Nonensens, you already felt like you got stabbed in the back once tonight, no need to make it literal.” Tango laughed, flinching only a little as it made one shoulder burn.

“Maybe. I shouldn’t have attacked either of you the way I did, you’re right Impulse… I need to learn to ask questions before I start stabbing people. Are you alright?” Doc asked, the question was aired for both Tango and Impulse from the way Doc glanced between them and worry was evident.

“I’ll be back to stupid scemes by tomorrow, probably.” Tango assured him with a grin.

“Yeah, been through considerably worse.” Impulse assured Doc, rubbing the side of his own head then showing his empty palm, there was no blood from where his head had hit the portal frame. Doc nodded but he still looked troubled.

“Hey.” Tango said sharply, almost startling the tattered lab coat wearing hermit who pinned him with an expectant expression, waiting. “Isn’t there somewhere you should be?”

“What do you mean?” Doc asked, shaking his head a little.

“There’s another hermit involved in all this who's gonna be really hurt and confused right now.” Tango pointed out.

“I need to go talk to Rendog… Don’t I?” Doc sighed, nodding.

“Yeah, that’s all we were trying to get you guys to do in the first place.” Tango pointed out quietly.

“Alright… you’re sure you’re alright?” Doc asked, standing but hesitant.

“Yeah, go give that old dog a big hug and tell him how you feel about him, he needs it.” Tango said, waving his hand to shoo Doc off. Finally Doc nodded and headed for the portal.

“I’ll drop by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.” Doc said just before the portal took him, but then he was gone, leaving Tango and Impulse alone again.

Impulse let out a long breath before carefully pulling Tango into his arms.

“Can we stop this almost dying thing?” He asked, his voice attempting humor but still too on edge to quite pull it off.

“Yeah it gets kinda lame pretty fast.” Tango agreed, leaning into Impulses embrace.

“I’m sorry for stabbing you… you should have just let me hurt Doc, he probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway.” Impulse sighed, still upset.

“Are you kidding? I’m the only one you’re allowed to stab.” Tango teased and then laughed at the way Impulse’s face went red.

“Yeah… you’re fine.” Impulse muttered, pulling Tango up as he stood. Tango didn’t argue as Impulse half carried, half guided him to bed. Tango had absolutely nothing against snuggling under the covers for a bit before passing out for a while.

…………

A crisp afternoon breeze played through Tango’s hair as he lay atop one of the spruce trees overlooking the Speedy Pines racetrack. He had one wing draped over Impulse who laid beside him, watching the impromptu race with him. To Tango’s other side was Grian and Mumbo, the remaining redstoner having his matte black and red draconic wings folded tight against his back. Grian having his feathered wings wrapping them both as best as possible. It was adorable really but Tango’s attention was drawn back down to the track as Ren and Doc zipped by, laughing like idiots. In all honesty it was a relief to see the two had worked things out finally, life had been a lot more like normal with the two no longer at odds. Tango still had no idea what happened to come between the two or what had to be said to clear it up but he was going to take full credit alongside Grian for helping them work whatever it was out.

“Grian?” Mumbo’s voice was soft, inquisitive and it drew Tango’s attention, glancing over again he saw Grian staring off into the distance, as if he could hear something, he looked almost trancelike. More than a little weirded out Tango reached over and poked him.

“Yo, Hermit Land to Grian.” Tango said in a playfully teasing tone.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” Grian said, shaking his head a little and looking back to the track.

“Are you alright?” Mumbo asked.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Grian said with a bit grin but Tango found himself a little bit suspicious but even listening to the quiet rustling of leaves as the wind passed through them. In all it was a peaceful afternoon and Tango was able to finally relax for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure how my oneshots keep getting so long... ah, well, shenanigans!
> 
> And look, still no one diiied.
> 
> as always feedback is much appreciated and I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Stay tuned for the next one in the series, it's a multi-chapter fic!


End file.
